Rumors of Steven Stamkos's Hockey Demise May Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
With a four goal game against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night, Steven Stamkos showed he still has more in the tank.
Thursday night Steven Stamkos scored four goals against the St. Louis Blues to lead the Nashville Predators to a 7-2 win.
It was a remarkable performance by Stamkos who hasn’t had the easiest time of late.
There is no question that Steven Stamkos is a future Hall of Famer, but his tenure with the Nashville Predators since signing on July 1, 2024 could be described as underwhelming. Even concerning. In his first season, Stamkos scored 27 goals and 53 points. Despite being second on the team in goals and third in points, the numbers were well below his 82 game career average of 41 goals and 83 points. Well below expectations.
The 2025-26 season didn’t start off with a ton of promise for Stamkos either. After recording two assists in the first four games of the season, the 35-year-old struggled through a nine game pointless streak. Those early season struggles fed an already chatty rumor mill.
Is Steven Stamkos washed up?
Was Stamkos propped up by his Lightning teammates in his later seasons in Tampa Bay?
Is Stamkos a problem in the Nashville locker room?
“As an athlete no matter where you are or what stage you are in your career, you’re always battling some tough times and confidence,” Stamkos said after his four goal game Thursday night.
“At this stage of my career you just fall back on the preparation that you do,” he added.
Instead of listening to the noise, the veteran kept working.
Stamkos began carving out for himself a somewhat different role than the Tampa Bay power play guru who could shoot the puck from the circle and impact a game. Stamkos has been looking for what he calls “the quiet ice” and hunting down loose pucks in front of the net. It may be new rink geography, but the results are coming along.
In his last ten games, Stamkos has recorded ten points including eight goals, none of which came as a result of a power play chance from his “office”.
It isn’t necessarily the same game he’s used to playing, but it is the same Steven Stamkos.
“Would it be nice to feel like you’re 25 every night again? Of course. But you have to put in a little different type of work. You’ve got to be the same person whether you’re scoring or you’re not scoring. That’s what I try to be, and it’s nice when you get rewarded for those efforts you put in behind the scenes,” Stamkos said after the game.
Andrew Brunette is impressed not just with Stamkos’s production of late but with how the veteran has navigated the tough times getting there.
“The way he approached every day is actually really remarkable,” Brunette said.
“It hasn’t been easy for him because he’s a proud guy. He’s a Hall of Famer, but he didn’t bring anybody down. He tried to lift everybody else around him.”
That off ice work and attitude made Thursday night’s success not just a celebration for Stamkos, Brunette and the team, but a lesson as well.
“Our young guys are very, very lucky to watch that and see that and hopefully understand that,” Brunette said after the game. “When they go through some things, how do they handle themselves?”
“When you see a night like tonight, it kind of touches your heart a little but because I understand how hard that is.”
